Phantoms of Youth
by DiaryofOphelia
Summary: Eveline, a very powerful mutant that is on the verge of shattering in her own traumatic events and coming down in a black abyss with the loss of nearly everything. Her sister left at the age of seven. As she slowing grew into another yet another mutated monstrosity, what will happen when more then one of her dark little secrets slip out one by one...right after another.
1. Chapter 1

_Holy shit, welcome back! So a little back story, I wrote this entire fic about five years ago now, originally titled 'Angelus Mortis' ( Mystic Fawn if ya'll are wondering) and was locked out, hence the reason why it stopped. I never liked the way the original story was written, so I trashed it and came up with something slightly better imo. Now, without further ado lets get this show on the road because I missed this story and I'm glad to have found my muse for it again._

_This story does follow the plot of X-MEN: First Class. And I may or may not have begun with the DOFP sequel. heehee._

* * *

_chapter one – subject x_

**_Black Site, 1958_**

An excruciating cry echoed throughout the facility. It's range bounced off the eggshell white walls for at least fifteen seconds before the source of the screaming died down to nothing when the–barely–lucid realization kicked in. The source came from the newest addition, being overlooked like a lab rat in its observation chamber...frightened and alone.

The young woman, now so violently shaking on the steel operation table, darted her attention about the room in a panic. Her focus wasn't the best, running off pure adrenaline and anxiety would be metaphorical death to some–what she could make out was a blur of white due to the color of the walls and the fluorescent light tubes beating down on her. Attributes she could feel and find were needles taped securely into the inside of her arm, another residing in her jugular vein, unaware if fluid was being pumped in or being drawn out, vital stickers scattered about her body and a thin paper garment held together by strips of tape or plastic.

One by one, she began pulling on the medical equipment and wince at the piercing noise of flat lining and beeping alarms. When she tried getting up the weight of a wire and pain of something pulling at her spine and the back of her head made her cry out again, a shaking hand searching for the source. It took her a few tries to tightly grip whatever wire than had been implanted by force before pulling as hard as she could with no fear of damaging anything important; next was the one in her skull.

By now, she could have vouched for experiencing it all.

The woman struggled to find her footing when she slowly slid off the table, staring rather teary-eyed and intently at the one way mirror...taking the image of the unrecognizable in.

She was rather pale and frigid, possibly from low nutrition and lack of sunlight, thick brown hair reached her shoulders in tangled waves and framed her slim face perfectly. The way the light reflected her eyes did no justice to the dull hazel and cloudy blue irises, no longer full of the life she could hardly remember.

"_Subject X_." stated the voice from the fuzzy speakers above, "_Back away from the glass_."

"Where...where am I." she quietly demanded, feeling the fear bubbling heavily in the pit of her stomach.

It didn't reply. Her eyes focused on the glass again, raising a fist to bawl up and slam against her reflection, shouting, "Where am I!"

Again, no reply.

The guard who cockily hid behind the walls and thick glass, grinned to the woman just a few feet away. What harm could she do from just a room away? He just went about his business, listening to the latest world news over the radio and checking in with the administrators and doctors to only find her...staring.

Directly at him, as if she could see where he was exactly. He did what he thought was normal and avoided all eye contact until she shifted towards his right to find her tilting her head, just to catch his eyes again.

"I'm not going to tell you again." he commanded, "Back _away_ from the glass."

She bat her eyelashes so very innocently as the most chilling smile grew on her face, keeping a close eye on his every movement incase he'd try to be smart. She could hear him anxiously tapping his nails against his weapon, hear the sweat rolling down his forehead and the slight click from the phone being lifted off the wall. The red one, in case of emergencies like this.

Just as he pressed the phone to his hear, instead of hearing the usual dial tone he heard the most excruciatingly painful screech–it wasn't coming from the receiver.

The guard screamed out in agony while the woman watched blood seep from his eyes, nose and ears. And he, desperately trying to silence the noise but it became so unbearable he started to claw at his face. It was normal. The host would do anything and risk everything just to make the noise stop but it wasn't up them.

Now, she was just toying with him to see how long he'd hold out before eating a bullet. It was quite enjoyable until she noticed the exit had no handle. "Open the door, please."

While her vocal request wasn't going to be answered, her ability to take control of the mind once it had been destroyed just enough did. The limp arm of the now lifeless guard pushed a button to release compressed air, hissing out as the door opened.

A simple "Thank you." was her last word before hearing the screaming coming to a stop, the loud thud of his body and various other items he brought down with him.

She peered out into the hall, hearing, seeing, nor sensing anyone near and far. Unable to guess which way was out on her own, thankfully there was a directory at the end of the hall.

"I don't remember checking into a hospital..." she whispered.

It took numerous amounts of left and right turns, a flight of stairs and a final directory arrow pointing towards somewhere but she couldn't understand it. The only "landmark" she found was the a red and white symbol painted on the floor beneath her, what appeared to be coiled up snakes of their respective colors with one head going north and another going south.

**_SUBJECT X HAS ESCAPED. SUBJECT X HAS ESCAPED._**

Ear-piercing sirens blared all around her caused her to feel the pulsing deep her brain, trying to cover her ears and block the sound as much as possible. Ironic how an ability to cause brain hemorrhaging has the same effect, yet dulled and not damaging but just as painful. She fell to her knees, cradling her head as she cried, "Make it stop! Make it stop!"

"There it is! Sedate it _NOW!"_

"No! No, get away from me!" screaming at the top of her lungs as she helplessly crawled away.

What felt like dozens of pairs of arms reaching and holding her down while another set came from the white-light in front of her, in hand a needle with yellow fluid. Not like any other sedative she could bring herself to remember.

"Hold it still!" The one baring the needle shouted.

The woman tried so hard to fight back, but the ear-biting song they played was literally scrambling her mind; slowly but surely. It disoriented her, unable to block it out while simultaneously attempting to take ahold of a vessel to control.

She shouted, "Get off me!"

"Do it now! She's not gonna hold on for much longer!"

Another cry of agony for the tip needle being injected into her neck, feeling the fluid run her blood cold and render her eyesight as well as her body movements utterly useless.

She lied limp against the cold floor as they reached for her, carrying off her limp body to wherever their marching orders were. And she tried to listen in on anything important, whatever that could lead to her inevitable escape...all she hoped was they gave her enough to send her on her way.

_"Take her to solitary for testing. This mutant isn't equipped to be around anyone alone."_ the walkie transmitted.

_"It is too dangerous."_

:::

This awakening was strangely calm. It felt as if it was controlled in a way but there was nothing abnormal or intrusive...she would have noticed it.

_"Subject X."_ the voice over the speaker announced.

Here, there were no windows or noticeable exits, just a show room type window display about ten feet above the ground. The steel enforcements encasing the glass suggested there was no point in trying to break it, with or without her mind, and there was no need to try to do anything stupid.

"Don't call me that.." she breathed hoarsely, trying to sit up with her arms bound against her chest and a thick ring around her neck that was connected to the wall behind her.

The man chuckled, light hearted and mockingly, like an owner would to a confused pet. _"It is your calling in here, subject, you respond to it or you suffer like the rest of the disobedient creatures here."_

She tried to stand and face the glass, shakily whispering, "There's–there are more of us.."

_"Yes, my sweet, but you are the star of the show."_

"Please…please I want to leave. I want to go home."

_"X, you are home."_

Petrified, the woman stood statue still to hear a whirring coming from behind and come to find out there was someone else in here. Chained up and gagged on the opposite end of the room was a young boy, couldn't have been more than thirteen.

The static feedback wafted through the speakers again, just before the voice, _"Demonstrate your abilities on this child."_

"No..no are you fucking crazy!?" she shouted, "I'm not killing some innocent kid!"

A bloodcurdling scream left her lips in result of a lethal dose of electrocution that rode through her bones and had singed her skin. She fell to her knees, catching her reflection against the white-pearl walls, all she could make out were her eyes: pupils dilated to the fullest extent, watching the specks of red and black moving rapidly through her skin. It could be seen pulsing in the arties and veins in her face until reflection slowly dissipated back to normal.

_"Do as your told and behave, it will not happen again."_

She was to traumatized to answer and whoever was behind the glass took it as a sign of complete submission, _"Good girl."_

"W..why.." her voice now barely audible, "Why do I have to hurt him."

_"We want to see what you do on whoever it is, whatever it is."_ the voice simply replied.

It didn't feel right. She wasn't about to murder a child for results or ability to push the limit on who she _could _kill. "No..no I'm not–"

A second round of electricity riding through her at a voltage high enough to kill a person, causing such an immense amount of pain to a person like her. Its result made her foam at the mouth and heavily drool.

_"What did I say about listening, subject."_

All he heard were tedious giggles turning into maniacal laughter. It was haunting to hear in a hollow room with no one else in sight, down in the walled cage to the observation pod. He was alone and that might've been his biggest mistake.

"You humans are pathetic." she coughed, seeing the light spotting of blood diluted in her saliva, "If you think...I'm going to break under this so called pressure and become...a weapon for this twisted organization and give you a front row seat for torture.." her throat was electrocuted raw, her voice already sounding hoarse.

"You're wrong."

The boy on the opposite side of the room had urinated on himself from being so scared. He must've been one of the however many they kept here and under punishment. If that was the case, it probably worked.

She braced for another electro shock for the backtalk but there was no positive or negative response. _"It's your lucky day, you get to spend all your time in solitary until you learn how to behave."_

That didn't sound good.

When the door to the testing facility opened, two guards approached her in riot gear and weapons drawn. One pointed a pistol at her head while the other unhooked her from the wall but kept the tech-savvy shock collar around her neck. "She tries anything, put her down."

"Yes sir." They replied before hauling her down another confusing set of hallways.

In the meantime, she searched for a like-mind to touch and connect, warn them or help them get out just as she promised herself.

_'saying there are more like me here...I can't get a grip on anyone..'_ she told herself, eventually giving up when the time came to lock her right back up.

"Careful…careful.." a guard warned to the other who had his back turned, attempting to open the door without looking was a stupid thing to do.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

One of them snorted and shoved her inside, nearly tripping and falling flat on her face, "Like we haven't heard that shit before. Buncha lyin' monsters you all are and I can't wait to see you and your kind suffer for it."

She hissed, "I'm just as much of a living, breathing _human_ you are. Being afraid of something or someone that doesn't look and act like you isn't a reason to dehumanize them for what they are."

"From what I see...it's people like you who we should be afraid of." she mocked, making her way towards her bed to sit and stare, "The _real_ monsters."

And with that, the door to her solitary confinement had shut with the loud grinding of the lock to keep it intact as well as impenetrable. Even a mutant as powerful as she, one wrong move and her head could either be blown right off or they'd fry her to a perfect little crisp. Whatever the case: dying by the hand of a human wasn't on her to-do list.

_"I see you're already making friends."_

Her eyes flickered to the observation glass above, seeing the mirror effect flood over to become clear on both sides. "There is no such thing as being friends with as someone as simple minded as them."

_"Mutants have no room in this lifetime, past, present or future. So, them calling you a monster is quite appropriate."_

She snorted, "Mutants this, mutants that–you know how long we've been here? How we've adapted and survived all these years to only run into the mistake of a creation. A half bright cousin branched from the beauty and mystery of us."

"You and your self-righteousness is what will get you killed. It's what turned your guard's brain into a mess of blood and matter." she spat rather poisonously, "I murdered him with a look, got his dead vessel to open the door. What human can do such a thing? What human can withstand what we throw at them?"

_"If you're so bold and powerful, why don't you show me what you got, sweetheart."_

"I will, one day. When you're not cowardly hiding behind glass and reinforced steel. I'll show you exactly what I can do."

She leaned back against the metal frame of the shitty bed they offered, pressing into the bars to look dead-eyed into the camera above and glare, "I will kill you, and there will be no one there to stop me or save you."

The woman manage to wiggle down and lie herself against the hard pillow, trying to get comfortable before tossing and turning to failure, "I don't suppose you're going away."

_"Unfortunately I'm not."_

"Just perfect.." she murmured, "Why have you become so interested in us. We injure or kill a family member, partner, kid...anyone close become collateral damage."

_"No. I'm fascinated by things I don't understand."_

She chuckled, "I can see that."

Angling herself so she could aim her attention towards the glass, capturing his dark brown eyes and smile, "You don't scare easy, do you."

_"Since I've gotten into this field?"_ he said, _"Not anymore."_

"You ever done it with a mutant before, Dr. Klein."

His silence seemed to have answered her question but maybe he was taking time to think of telling her the truth or lie, _"No, not that it is any of your business."_

"Getting inside your head is my business, so if you're lying I can find out just as easily."

_"Are you propositioning something."_

She shook her head slow, rolling on her back to look up to the ceiling, "Of course not...I'm just curious."

"They say humans aren't so bad but mutants...well you've got to be a certain kind of special to withstand that power."

Dr. Augustine Klein leaned back into his chair, fingers clasping within each other as he watched her roll around in bed before eventually giving up trying to find comfort. _"Why are you being so nice to me after I promised to kill you."_

"Because humans do that to each other all the time. A mutant does the same and they have some built up hatred already pointed at your kind for even existing."

_"True, but you're being too nice."_

He chuckled, "Would you like me to be mean and torture you to the point past recognition?"

_"No...I'm just not used to being treated–"_

"Normally."

She nodded her head in response, curling her legs up to her chest, _"I've spent my whole life hiding in the shadows, afraid of everyone, promising to never use my abilities until I'm provoked and someone gets injured or worse."_

_"All I've ever asked for growing up was to wake up one day and hear only my voice in my head, or set someone ablaze or...or cause an earthquake or rupture foundation when I'm upset." _When he started to hear her stifle a soft cry, she turned on her back to look him dead on, a silent plea in her emotion almost rocked his, _"If I do everything this organization asks...will they cure me."_

The doctor couldn't help but think back to her very righteous argument about mutants being the all-powerful beings they are with such pride. Yet here she was, pleading to be fixed and cured in order to be like the beings she so desperately despised.

It was pitiful but understandably upsetting, "No one knows what it's like waking up every day being the embodiment of destruction and no one cares unless they want to use you to the fullest potential–like you are now."

_"Offering to do so in return for a cure doesn't make much logical sense."_

"Offering what I can in whatever time span you create is very logical. When, whatever this is, is over, I want to live my life happily and ability-free." Augustine leaned forward into the desk, elbows digging into the table top as he searched his mind for an answer. It probably wasn't the most plausible way of thinking with a telepath not too far away.

_"Get some sleep, little girl...you need to save your strength for tomorrow."_

She hesitantly nod her head, waiting for the lights to go down darker before finding herself falling asleep to the sound of nothingness.

_'My name is Eveline Darkhölme and this is all I can remember.'_

* * *

Don't forget to follow/fave and leave a comment!

I could use the support :)


	2. Chapter 2

_Here is chapter two! Since I have this story pre-written up, I'll be updating at least twice a week. After that, newer chapters will come on Sundays :)_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

_chapter two – destined for greatness _

**_four years later ..._**

"X, I do believe there was a promise to be made here."

Eveline sat still in her seat, weighed down by her restraints due to her increased terrible behavior becoming of that one day, that one hollowed promise. "I do not kill others."

"That isn't what you told me." Augustine taunted accordingly, "You promised your best while we cure you for the rest of your days."

"You're lying, and you really think that I'm stupid enough to believe you."

She purposely focused on the test subjects at hand, her own personal batch of criminals to toy with to their liking and demonstrations to showcase what she could _really _do. One of them had bled to death from severe brain hemorrhage. The second suffered being burned alive by the isolated rust-red clouds conveyed in its torture chamber. Lastly, the one who held out the longest while she created spikes from the Earth below, inching their way through his ribs and out his shoulder and back. Each man had suffered just enough, and she couldn't bat an eyelash at the unimaginable pain she had caused to men who she–who _they–_thought had deserved it.

"Atta girl."

"I want to try the guns again."

Augustine tilted her head back, giving her a sympathetic look before denying her request, "You nearly dying from the last practice is concerning."

"I can do better." she forced out, "Please."

"This is the last time; you screw up its on you."

"I can do _better._ I will do better."

In the last four years, she had been broken to be both fearless and tame but her skills slacking for the very reason of wanting to be kicked out or worst case: killed.

She suddenly started to giggle, "You have no faith in me."

"You always know what I'm thinking..."

Each mutant was broken in the way their doctors had suggested or...prescribed. It all depended on how little compassion they could offer to what rewards were given out if done extraordinarily. Most of the time, the better rewards were being able to go outside and soak in the sun for a good half hour before being broken over and over until the commands and obedience was not only drilled into their heads...it was the only thing they knew.

"Just the two I need to see," popped in Dr. Namid, holding a chart in her hand and a warm smile as if the bitch hadn't had a heart of ice, "X has visitors."

"I do?"

She simply nod her head, "Yes, and they're expecting to see you now."

"But I have training...and it's my turn to teach the kids–"

"Sorry, X, these men really want to see you. Quite the bid on the market."

"Bid?" Eveline asked as she was released from her restraints, being led by both Dr. Klein and Dr. Namid with two sets of arms to keep the both safe. "Didn't Dr. Klein tell you? Once we're through, you're tamed and prepared, we sell you off to the highest American bidder."

The look of devastation on her face completely broke him. Augustine wouldn't deny how much he's bonded with her over the last four years alone. She'd been the highlight of his career and he saw her as nothing more than a friend...though he was afraid she might have become something a little more, at least in his heart and mind.

Eveline faced him, tears slowly building in her eyes as she choke out, "You lied to me."

On cue, the four men had pointed their weapons towards her head without any hesitation as she looked upon her only true friend, taken back and taken for granted. "You promised me I would leave here, better and _human_."

"Eve I–"

"What did you expect, X. You're a weapon...it's all mutants are good for these days. The useless ones die, while the strong and powerful survive and are used instead of sending out innocent men to die in battle." Dr. Namid said matter-of-factly, "And her address is _X, _doctor. Nothing more."

There was no point in trying to fight her way out with weapons inches from any four angle. Her issues with catching a bullet mid-flight would be deemed useless and again, dying at the hand of a human wasn't on her to-do list. Not now, not ever.

"Let's go, X. They won't wait forever."

Eveline slowly shuffled behind her, keeping her hands clasped behind her in case they would restrain her for any number of reasons, "What do they want me for."

"Battle testing, have the money and expertise to handle mutants just like you."

She snorted, "There isn't any other mutant like me."

"Oh, there's a lot more than you know."

Holding her wrists tight for the ratcheting of the special shackles, being forced into a hallway apart from three visitation-like rooms. These were for talking with the doctors, explaining powers, mutations, escalation in behavior, control over power, things of that nature that came to the ability of a mutant. It took quite a few hours before they were sold into another organizations pocket or left here to wait another day. It was inhumane at best, but mutants weren't human and nor were they allowed to be treated as such.

"Here we are gentlemen." Namid greeted with such glee, "Subject X, these are the men I was telling you about. Mr. Charles Xavier and Mr. Erik Lehnsherr."

Eveline swallowed slowly, "It-it's nice to meet you."

"Pleasure is all mine." said the one named Charles.

"Take as long as you need, the guards will be right outside if you need anything."

They all nodded their thanks as if they were really that grateful for their shitty hospitality. Eveline sat herself in front of them, looking as terrified and weak as ever but how could she hide the truth of who she really was, inside or out. "What is it you want with me."

"To our understanding, you're a very powerful girl," Erik complimented, leaning forward to press his elbows into the white table top, "But something also tells me you do not belong _here_."

She simply agreed, whispering, "I-I don't. I don't even remember how I got here in the first place."

"How do you mean?" 

"Four years ago, I woke up on...what I could assume was an operating table. I was wired up, hooked to machines, being observed...when I escaped they caught me rather quickly and injected me with a serum or-or maybe a newly designed sedative specifically for mutants. I've never seen it before...but I don't remember anything like it."

Charles then took it upon himself to lightly press his index and middle fingers to his temple, trying to look conflicted as a cover up. As the process ensued, he winced at the strength of her mind pushing so hard against his, he felt like she was about to split him open. It didn't take her long to notice the disruption, nor did it affect her ability to let him in freely, _'you...you're one of us?'_ she calmly communicated, getting a simple head nod.

_'we are here to get you out, Eveline. to join a bigger and better cause worthwhile, away from this place.'_

The wave of relief crashed against her so hard she felt sick but excited at the same time. "I'll do it."

_'but there are others here, being held against their will by the dozens. men, women and children.'_ Eveline informed.

_'I can feel them but they're distant–'_

She shook her head, _'it's the walls. i don't know what it could be, but they've disconnected us from each other unless we're assigned classes with the younger children or given common room time, so we don't kill ourselves or our doctors. these people have given solitude an entirely new meaning.'_

_'is he one of us too?' _Eveline communicated quietly as she flickered her eyes towards Erik, seeing him look so unbothered was a bit frightening.

"Yes, he is." _'you're safe with us, Eveline. I promise.'_

It was a long shot, but it was more than worth it, even if she couldn't save anyone else...being let out now and given that chance was something she wouldn't pass up.

Then, the door behind her had opened. A smiling Dr. Namid wasn't the worst sight in the world, at least not anymore, "How are we all doing? Getting along?"

"She is extraordinary. She'll do perfectly with us." Charles persuaded.

"Perfect and of course the amount has to be paid in full and in cash before she can be released. Until payment, Dr. Klein will start the discharge paperwork and she is put into your custody as soon as possible."

Erik was seemingly preparing for a fight until Charles took it upon himself to continue with his wondrous little trick, "Well, we have already given full payment at the door, all that is left is the paperwork if I am correct." 

Dr. Namid had never looked so confused and wronged in a very, very long time. It took a second for the illusion to clue in but once it did, the written documents had changed, and the payment was stamped on, in full and on time, "Oh, my apologies. I'll get Dr. Klein to file the paperwork right away."

"In the meantime, X wait in the common room."

She nodded slow, looking back to the men who pretty much saved her life. _'thank you.' _her inner conscious whispered to them both before being escorted out.

The common room wasn't as bad as everyone, she included, made it out to be. It was a pretty nice space with couches, books, magazines, even a television. Only thing that was on was the news or the President's public announcements, couldn't rot the mutant mind with Yogi Bear and The Jetsons.

"X, hey, how's everything going?" Sara, as far as she knew it was her real name, asked while twirling the corkscrew coils in her hair, "Heard you were busting outta here."

Eveline considered her one of her best friends, always admiring her mahogany skin and beautiful brown eyes with little sun streaks in them. Catch her eyes at a right angle, it was like staring into molten amber, "Yeah, got some...really nice men paying a lot of money for me."

"Interesting." she giggled, falling back against the white couch to bring the young woman down with her, twirling her dark hair around a slender finger, "They cute?" 

"Can't you read my mind and find out?" 

Sara chuckled, snapping her fingers to create a small flame in result, "Not my power." then she opened her palm to let the fire run wild, watching the flickers slowly swirl into an object: building, a globe, then a rose, "I bet your real name is Rose."

"I wish, it's such a pretty name." Eveline smiled sweetly.

Everyone in the facility went by a nickname or a given name, like Eveline. Subject X was the 22nd letter, guess they ran out of ideas since the newcomers gave themselves nicknames to go by.

The sudden dull ring of a school bell disrupted their conversation, cause her to peer over the back of the couch as the door popped open and ran out the twenty-four strangely happy kids. It was hard to be anything but depressed here, honest to God, but it was nice to see someone happy...for once.

"X! X! X!" shouted a small voice from the crowd, shoving past the other students to scale the couch and land right in her lap, "I heard you were leaving, is it true!?" 

A child with ruby-red eyes and pure silver hair, even paler skin with interesting swirls of scars covering nearly her entire body, dressed in the issued white attire. Though she got lucky with the nice dress, "Yes, it's all true. The doctors are getting everything in order and...I should be out of here soon."

The odd little girl went by the name of Mars. No explanation to why, she just found it more suitable than the other planets' names, "Where's Aeris? I want to say goodbye before I go."

"She's in training, trying to be more like you." a deep chuckle answered, tilting her head back to see Subject L, or as everyone called him, Vector. "Heard you're finally leaving the snake nest...it's about damn time."

Vector planted himself in the single chair beside the arm rest, crossing his arms over to let his uneven blond hair fall into her face. Eveline stared up into his eyes, nothing but hollow wonders in those pretty blue eyes of his, "Aren't you supposed to be in the detonation field, blowing stuff up here and there?"

"Yeah, probably but I've been beating the walls strong enough to withstand a nuke." he snorted, playing with the rings on his fingers, "Fucking shock collars are really starting to piss me off."

"Isn't that what you do? Charge batteries and blow up power lines and cause blackouts 'cause you feel like it?" Sara teased, only to get a hand around her throat and a deadly growl leaving his lips.

For all eyes to see, the coils of static ringing his biceps, down his forearms to stop at his knuckles, "Thought those collars gave you a tingle? Try me on for size."

"You need to lose the attitude, sparky, one wrong move and you're gonna be burning alive. So, tell me, what hurts more: being barbequed or a zap."

"Guys, come on, the kids are here. You two really wanna be spending the next six months in solitary because you gotta screw each other over?" Eveline tried to reason but neither party didn't listen, now it was time to take it into her own hands. She focused easily, flooding their minds with the calming words she had to offer before forcefully moving Vector back into his seat.

He and Sara both glared at her hard, their eyes were the only bodily movement they had total control of as well as their speech, "Get out of my head!" they both shouted, making Mars giggle and cheer her on.

"Hey! Aeris is back!"

Another precious little girl, capturing the heart of Eveline in absolutely no time. The young girl wore her dark brown hair in a braid down to her waist, clothed in a dress with little gloves to keep her and everyone else safe. Her black eyes scanned the room, shyly making her way over to the couch and sit with her hands laced in her lap, "Good evening."

"How was practice? Eveline asked, more out of concern than she did for her progression.

Aeris just shrugged, "I...It went okay. Dr. Thompson said I'm improving, wants me to be more h-hands on."

Eveline sat herself up, reaching for her gloved hand to gently remove it, only for her to rip it away, "I can control it, Aeris, come on. It'll be alright."

Her mutation brought the prisoners an abundance of radioactive toxins, it seeped through her pores like sweat would, but it had become more advanced as she aged. Aeris had to be covered from neck to toe, not have physical contact with anyone, be left almost always alone.

"I'll be okay," Eveline reassured, holding her hand up to watch Aeris hesitantly reach her little hand to touch palms.

The little girl waited for something to go wrong, but Eveline was alright, and so was she, "See, I told you." she whispered, before clasping their hands together, "Can't harm me, remember?"

Aeris smiled so beautifully at this, the ability to feel another's hand without having to watch them perish before her, "You're so cold..."

"Yeah," she laughed, "I get that a lot, kid."

"X."

That voice made her clench Aeris's hand tighter, looking past the little girl to see Augustine and the pitiful expression on his face. There was something about him...he was different than the rest. She could never put her finger on it to what it was, but she could never manipulate him, never read his mind, never control him. When the time came that she could, it wasn't a sedative or a shock collar that stopped her.

It was just...him.

"It's time." Augustine said, sounding a little sad.

Eveline slowly nodded, pulling her hand from Aeris's to lean in and hug her, then Sara, Mars and Vector. Everyone else just watched with hope or jealousy, she could hear their inner consciousness...it was riveting.

_'if I get out, all of you are too.'_

That was her message to every mind she could touch, being looked upon with hope and as the golden ticket out of this place.

_'I promise.'_

With that said, Eveline followed him out with her hands linked behind her back and silent, as taught. "I'm sorry–"

"No, frankly you're not. Our agreement was busting my ass to become normal, not sold to be someone else's problem."

"So, you'd rather stay here, have no life and no future...just to stay _my_ problem." Augustine murmured, saying that a little too suggestively it made her blush.

Eveline's heart was racing so fast it made her stomach turn. How could he, a mere human, make her feel like this?

"I suppose you could say that."

He chuckled, "Now, aren't you glad I can't read your mind."

"You say that like I can." she sighed, looking back up to meet his eyes, "I never wanted to know what you were thinking, especially of me. I was afraid of what I might find, and I wouldn't react to it well."

Augustine stopped, tilting his head to meet her averted eyes, "Like what?"

She then shook her head, continuing the walk towards the restraint room, "Nothing."

The walk was quiet from then on, the distance slowly grew, and the irritation wasn't anything more than a headache. Augustine didn't enjoy seeing her head hanging low, her hands practically shaking behind her back and overall the sight of her not happy. Just outside the door, one more before the freedom of the outside world, there was something in her that clicked.

Eveline turned sharply on her heel, taking him by the coat to pull him down for a kiss. What happened to prolong it was the vivid imagery she projected just for him.

Augustine relived the memories they had created, from the day they met to the day they parted and everything in between. Hearing her laugh and smile, beating him in chess because she cheated by "accident", her getting shot via testing grounds and the way he lost his mind because she almost died. How she laughed at him for being so concerned before uttering, _"I might be invincible, but that doesn't mean I can't die."_ Then, to the month he spent keeping her company while she healed to the day she finally got her chance to go outside. The day he fell hard and fast for the woman who could destroy the world. Every day after that for four years suddenly felt like a lifetime.

It was more than beautiful, and he didn't want it to end.

"How-how did you do that." he whispered breathlessly, meeting those green eyes that suddenly shifted in color, flickering a light blue then brown, finally amber.

"Magic." Eveline whispered back, a smile slowly growing, "Just something I've been meaning to give you, if and when I got my chance to leave but I didn't think it would be so soon."

She took a step back, interlacing her now still hands behind her back then face the door. "For you to remember me by."

"Eve, what are you talking about."

"I might be invincible, but that doesn't mean I can't die."

With that said, she gave him one more smile before walking in by herself and closed the door behind her. She was taken into another set of various arms, restraining her arms to her chest then removing the collar to let her see the burn scars it had created those years ago. Through the entire discharge procedure, she was calm, didn't say a word, and did everything they asked.

She left that room bound and blind, short of being put into a special box and mailed with a big red ribbon. Another issue was the invasive tracker they injected into her neck, didn't know where this came from or how it got inside without as much as a struggle to get it in.

Eveline knew what violation was, this was just over the top.

"X, congratulations." greeted Dr. Namid. "You're going to be destined for great things, be put to the test and make sure you make us proud. We wouldn't want a failure to represent us."

She couldn't answer. The muzzle they thought was necessary was something given personally from the frigid head doctor, "I don't know if you've forgotten but we have eyes everywhere, X, there isn't anything you can't get away from or hide from us."

"And I'm sure your first love will suffer from your selfishness greatly."

Eveline couldn't focus on her location and give her as much hell as she was allowed. Her projection skill wasn't perfected, but she supposed this threat had to reach more than on who shared the same idea, _'you don't want to cross me minutes from being released, Allison. there's only so much a small goon squad can do to me while i'm like this.'_

"Get her out of here, now." she growled.

There was more pride to be taken in not getting thrown right back in here after that remark. Didn't matter how right that bitch was about her selfishness, it was the perfect time. She would make sure he was never harmed again by the empty threats of a fearful human, now until the end of time.

:::

"Are you sure this is worth it, Charles."

"Yes, of course it is," he defended, pocketing his hands due to how antsy he became, "I've touched her mind for the first time, and what I saw was anything and everything short of what is really happening here. I expected you to show a little bit of compassion or share your similarities."

Erik heavily sighed, leaning back up against the Cadillac due to the numbness in his legs and loss of balance from the long wait, "I don't have to sympathize with every mutant in a bad situation."

"But yet you want to save them from that demise, yes?"

"I do." he answered.

Charles faced him with his best scold, piercing blue eyes glaring into each other, "Then start looking at the bigger picture, for your cause and ours."

The doors to the facility had opened wide into its private parking structure, seeing the girl wrapped up in restraints and still being eyed by weapons at every angle gave their heart strings a sharp tug. Even now, she is still under thumb.

"I professionally thank you for choosing us for your cause." Dr. Namid flashed her million-dollar grin during her thanks, "I do hope Subject X lives up to your fascinating expectations."

Eveline felt woozy as she was passed into their care, feeling the anger built up in the both of them as they soon retreated and left the three alone with a sudden suggestion, "Keep her in restraints until you get to your destination, God only knows what a girl like her can _really _do. Be cautious."

Once everything seemed fine and secure for the next fifteen minutes, Erik flexed his hand to remove what metal locks they had hanging off her jacket, Charles started unbuckling the blindfold and muzzle to hear her breath so unsteadily it gave them quite the scare, "Are you alright."

"Better now..." she breathed heavily, unable to control the shakes and sudden amount of tears rolling down her cheeks, "They implanted me before my release, I can feel it moving."

"Moving?" 

Erik took it upon himself to round her and stand behind, moving her hair to lay eyes on the incision marked as an x on the back of her neck. "What's the possibility of this killing you if I remove it."

"Slim, but not here. When on their grounds, it alerts them and has a distance of thirty miles before the connection is lost." she added shakily, being lead into the backseat, "I-I don't know how to thank you."

"You just did, love." Charles said kindly.

Eveline didn't know what else to do or say but nod again, looking out the window as they world passed her by cars, people, buildings, animals, the sky and clouds, even the sun. Her being mesmerized with the outside world caught so much unwanted attention but her curiosity and butterfly in a jar didn't care. She was free, but at what cost.

"How did you find me?" she asked in the midst of silence, getting two glances through the rearview mirror.

"A special machine made specifically for finding mutants, using my telepathy to reach a farther distance."

She shook her head, "No, I knew that, but _how _did you do it? The walls here are so thick and programmed to keep telepaths from communicating. I-I don't know how they do it but it's their way...segregating us in order to receive an extreme case of dependence."

"The doctors decided when we ate, slept, trained and when we needed to stop training, when we...breathed." Eveline explained so quietly, they almost missed what she said, "They treated us like we didn't matter until the purpose was to line their pockets."

"Do you have any family? Any alive we could contact for you."

"A-A sister, I don't know where she is but she's not that hard to miss unless she's hiding behind another person's face." said Eveline with such high hopes, "Her name is Raven Darkhölme. Last I seen her was when we were children, living in Pennsylvania. She and I were playing hide and seek in the house, mother was passed out from the booze and it was all we could do to keep us from thinking about starving to death. One minute she was there, then the next she was just gone."

The tension in the air was cause for concern. She noticed the way Charles's eyes flashed with a sense of fear or something similar because he suddenly stopped talking. Erik too was silent, but she figured that was common as well as his nature. Eveline refused to invade the privacy of both their minds, so she sat back and waited for someone to say something, anything.

Charles then found his voice, as well as his warm smile, "Now, I don't think she gone too far."

* * *

:)

Don't forget to fav/follow!

Drop a review if you'd like!


	3. Chapter 3

Hi again! Back at it again with Chapter 3, I'm not particularly fond of this chapter because I feel like it's a little too rushed but please, I'd love some input!

Any constructive criticism helps! Enjoy!

* * *

_chapter three – familial match_

"A what?"

"Covert CIA Research Base. It's safe there."

Eveline suddenly curled into a tiny ball in the furthest corner of the backseat, continuing to peer out the window like a traumatized child.

Charles pulled up to the front walk way, looking over his shoulder to find her back pressed against the door, almost refusing to move, "Eveline, it's alright. There are no tests to be done, no proving your worth, no price tag. They look into people like us from a distance, let us show what we can do to them and help find others like us."

"What for." she asked shakily, staring out the other window right at the door to the facility with fear flowing through her veins.

"To get to know us better, that we are treated like humans and deserve nothing more." Charles tried to reason but this was years' worth of trauma to dig through.

There was no trust and he didn't see any coming in the next few days, weeks, lucky if it'd be a month.

"Oh...okay."

Eveline popped open the door behind her, slowly stepping out to feel the warmth of the sun hitting her skin, the calm breeze and sounds of birds singing in every direction. She looked directly up into the sun despite it burning her eyes, it was the only pain she knew she could withstand. "Holy shit.."

"Never felt the sun before?" Erik asked rather rudely.

"Not for this long.." she replied in a shortage of breath, "I was lucky to get forty-five minutes of this before going straight back to training for six hours."

Her black hair was dull against the sun's rays, her skin was short of burning from being so fair and the light was already reddening up her cheeks not even five minutes later. Eveline couldn't let this go to waste, "Come now, you'll get a chance to lie in the grass and soak up the sun for however long you'd like."

"Really?" she spoke with such child-like behavior they...couldn't help but feel pity, "Okay."

Eveline followed behind them, averting her eyes to the sights however far she could see. She followed the two men closely while she sight saw just about every nook and cranny of this place. Wasn't big, so it wasn't hard to get lost unless she wanted to, "What do you do?"

"Me?" Erik responded to get a head nod, "I control metal."

She genuinely seemed surprised, "I didn't take you for a guy to have such a useful mutation."

"What does that mean. "Useful mutation"."

"I took you for the kind of man that likes the destroy a lotta stuff, blow it up, melt it down, things like that."

Erik looked over his shoulder, eyeing her before a sly smirk played on his face, "And who says I can't do that with metal."

The strike of embarrassment was loud and clear when she choked trying to answer. "Right.."

As the three passed a window, noticing the giant white orb sitting outside. It kinda looked like a giant golf ball, "Is that how you found me?"

"Yes, actually. One of our brethren created it." Erik explained while Charles was too busy watching her, tilting her head to the side like a confused puppy.

"Using telepathy to find others...how far did your mind go, Charles."

"Far enough, have coordinates for their precise location all across the country."

Eveline then turned to him, giving him a look. It's one he was bound to recognize, "How about across the world."

"You don't need to be the best at everything, Eveline. It's only a matter of time before your pride is the reason you die."

She giggled, "That's rich coming from a man who tried to raise a submarine driven by hate and anger. We're more alike than you care to admit; running on the lividity we've been fed from day one. Weaning off of it is going to be harder than any training or punishment I've ever received, and it's going to take more than mind tricks to make me remember who I used to be."

Eveline raised her hand to touch the glass, pressing her fingertips hard into it to watch it crack into a web then press her palm against the pieces to push them outward and separate. They watched as the shards of glass spun and flipped before being returned to their place back into the window's concrete frame. The glass molded back together perfectly.

"It's easier to blow it up first...give it time to get a distance before getting it to where you need it to go." she murmured, pulling back from the window.

"Creating shrapnel." Charles finished for her.

"We were battle tested, put into recreated fields to test our durability in a firefight. If we had the heart to kill a human who was more than willing to murder us. It was a power push for those who promised to never harm them but there comes a time where you soon realize at the end of the day, they don't matter."

Eveline pulled away from the glass to follow them close behind again, directed to a common room down the hall where music and voices soon flowed into her head. Both vocally and subconsciously.

To hear the once voice she thought she might never hear against caused a rush of anxiety and Charles was the first to feel it, "No need to be shy."

"I-I don't think it's shyness that I'm feeling."

Deep down, Eveline was panicking. Mostly because she was afraid her only family might not remember her, and another reason was she wouldn't pay any mind. _'if she left of her own volition without thinking my safety too, does she really care anymore?'_ she directed the question straight to Charles, unable to waver the notion that she was unwanted and unloved.

_'I'm sure she does, Eveline. Don't put it past her to not have a big heart and care for a family she's been looking for.'_ he replied calmly, to see if it'd would help any.

Eveline took a deep breath before she made her way inside, looking over the perfectly placed furniture and pinball machine. A small group of people placed on the couches and seats with a full table of Cola and snacks.

From their view, she was timid and very unsociable. From another, she looked rather dangerous. Eveline couldn't bear to understand why some were thinking so poorly of her based-on appearance, so she kept silent especially for introduction.

"I'd like you all to meet Eveline, our newest recruit."

They greeted her through simple 'hellos' and head-nods, smiles and waves of their hands. "Hello.."

Then, she set her eyes on Raven. It took a minute to realize that she was hiding, yet again, but this isn't what she looked like growing up. The blonde in her hair was the darkest shade of brown and skin tone paler than she portrayed now. At the age of six, they could have deceived others into being twins when she wasn't her true form.

But regardless of a change in appearance, the young woman before her slowly stood up and froze in place. Raven couldn't put it past herself to never recognize her own flesh and blood, "I...is it really you."

"Change isn't really my ability." Eveline answered quite nervously, feeling her skin beginning to crawl once she closed in on her an pulled her into her arms.

The reunion wasn't what she thought it would be nor did she share the emotion she should have. Raven tightened her arms around her body, feeling Eveline's slowly curling around her own to hear her choking back a sob, "I'm so sorry...I promised to protect you, but I-I abandoned you. Just like everyone else.."

Everyone behind her couldn't help but noticed how blank her face was. There were no tears, no sense of an emotion, or a normal reaction at least. Nothing but solemn and somber.

"This..this is everyone." she introduced, wiping the tears from her eyes, "Angel, Darwin, Alex, Sean, and Hank. This is my little sister."

"We were just going over our new identities."

"Ya'know, kind of this renaming thing for the new team these guys are building." Sean clarified, swinging his legs over the arm rest, "We were in the middle of it when you came in."

Eveline took that sentence completely wrong, feeling as if she was a nuisance of some kind.

"It's really fun, take your mind off of everything else going wrong in the world." Hank offered nicely, trying to make her more comfortable.

"No, it seems like the perfect thing." she tried to sound enthusiastic, but it wasn't working, "I'm sorry. I'm not used to being around people I don't know."

Angel couldn't help but smile, "It's no biggie. I don't think any of us would expect someone to become...suddenly social after spending so long literally underground."

"Yeah, with Alex here and his love for solitary confinement, I think you have a better chance of expressing yourself that he does." chuckled Sean.

Alex expressed himself, it was silent, but he got the point across with his middle fingers in the air. "See?"

It made her giggle.

"Sean?"

"Oh, right it's my turn." he laughed, getting himself back on track, "I wanna be called... Banshee."

Eveline looked to him, rather confused, "You want to be named after a screaming ghost?"

"Wailing spirit." Hank revised.

"It's the same thing."

He just nervously adjusted his glasses and leaned back into his seat to sink into it further, trying to hide his embarrassment and need to be correct.

Sean pushed himself out of his seat, then crouched at the opposite end of the coffee table to face the window, "You might wanna cover your ears."

While everyone was hesitant and a little bit afraid of what he might have, Eveline pressed her palms to her ears after everyone else with her attention towards the window. In a split second, what sounded like a breathless shriek passed through the room and shattered the window completely.

"Jesus.."

Sean then pointed to Angel, "Your turn."

"Well, my stage name is Angel." she explained, shrugged off her jacket to show the wings tattooed down her biceps but it wasn't what it seemed to be. They slowly peeled off her skin to flutter for a second, glistening and becoming iridescent in the light, "Holy shit you can fly?"

"Yep, and this–" stopped mid-sentence to spit a ball of acid onto the bronze statue in the quad, burning and sizzling the metal on contact. "I really don't know if that's cool or really disgusting," Eveline complimented nervously.

Angel took no offence, "Believe me, I thought it was gross a couple times at first, but it keeps just about everyone away."

_'i can relate.' _she told herself, looking over to Hank and smile, "What's your...new name?"

"Big-Foot sounds appropriate." sneered Alex, grinning as if he did something noble.

Eveline looked to him then Raven, clearly not knowing what he was referring to, "I don't get it."

"Hank doesn't have normal feet and he's very smart." Raven stated, looking over to glare at her fellow "teammate", "And you know what they say about guys with big feet, right? Yours look...kinda small."

The innuendo made Eveline blush and laugh like she never did before, seeing the smile on Raven's face in result of it was so heartwarming and nostalgic. It was one of those times where she wished it would stay like that, forever, "How about you, tough guy? What's your gift?"

"I...I can't do it in..._here._"

Everyone was baffled. "You talk big for a guy as cocky as you, c'mon, what can you do?"

"Can you do it out there." Darwin nodded his head beyond the broken window.

Alex suddenly became clammed up, refusing to do anything he didn't want to until the chanting began. The girls and Sean banging their fists against the armrests to add to the annoying push...but he gave in, "Alright, fine but keep your distance."

He got up from his seat, jumped over the concrete sill to stand in the farthest right corner of the quad, only to realize the group had been sticking out farther from the comfort of the common room. "Get back." He demanded compliance, getting them to retreat then come right back in a matter of seconds, "I said get back!"

They didn't budge and he didn't think they were going to, "Fine.."

Alex moved his body to create the ruby disks rotating around him, jerking in one direction to send them flying towards the target: the bronze statue. He missed the first three times then nailed his mark once the last disk flew, successfully slicking the statue in half. That performance earned him a round of applause, "Remind me not to piss you off." Raven giggled, pulling herself as well as everyone else back inside.

"Now it's your turn, lab rat."

"I..I don't know what I'd like to be called.." she couldn't help but think of the worst of ideas but maybe it was time to reclaim.

"How about _lab rat._" Alex snorted, beginning to laugh.

Eveline glared at him and in result he suddenly stopped moving. Then, he began hitting himself, tripping over the window sill and hitting the ground before being lifted straight into the air, then dropped again, "Holy shit!"

She aimed her attention to Sean as she gently clapped her hands to send him and his chair backwards, "That was pretty cool!" he laughed.

"That isn't all." Eveline rejoiced, standing back up to give Alex total control again, "Get out of the way."

He didn't bother fight it, he scurried to the sidelines to watch Earth-made skewers shoot from the ground and rise into the air, touching sharpened tips to create a pyre, "Throw one of your disks in the air."

Alex had looked at her like she was crazy, until that look of insanity soon took over her emotions and made him suddenly compliant. He wound a single disk around him before launching it up, watching her use it to literally rain fire upon the structure. Everyone inside was suddenly becoming utterly terrified when the creation started swirling around, becoming rusty red before it was used as a pressure point to blow out any other windows nearby. Once the glass had been obtained, the pieces slowly started to move towards the others, threatening to fly in every direction.

"Eveline, stop it!" shouted Raven, following everyone's lead in backing up as far as they could so they wouldn't get injured.

As if on command, the younger sibling suddenly returned to her normal self, letting everything in her possession fall to the ground. Eveline looked around at what she had done, facing everyone who looked to her in terror, "I...I'm sorry."

It was that look of pity that made her crouch down and enclose herself in a cocoon of energy, working as a security blanket of sorts when she'd gotten to...uncontrollable.

Raven looked to others for some sort of advice but being as lower-class in mutation as they were, up against a raging weapon, it was almost impossible to find a bribe to make her come out. She hopped outside, glancing to Alex since he was becoming a little concerned for his as well as everyone else's safety.

But what could they do?

"Eve..." Raven called quietly, kneeling in front of the spinning orb, "Eve, please come out."

There was no response.

"Eveline, I know you didn't mean to do that. Please come out." she pleaded again, but to no avail.

Raven made the mistake of reaching out to touch the orb, jumping back in pain when she looked back to her hand and seen her palm nearly skinned. "They should have left me with the Culebras." Eveline voiced, but it sounded so distorted it couldn't be described as anything more than evil.

"No, no Eve don't say that. We're alright, just please come out."

Hank then joined Raven at her side, kneeling down with her to look into the orb despite not seeing her clearly. He thought his kindness as well as from the others could open her up, literally and emotionally, "I think I've found the perfect name for you."

The cocoon ceased its spinning, so he could see Eveline sitting inside and curled up. Nothing more than a frighten child, broken and taught to be weaponized.

"We'll call you the Witcher."

:::

There was nothing more comforting then to be welcomed into loving arms despite the scene that was caused. After countless attempts, Eveline finally opened up and became one with the group. She didn't have to worry about being ridiculed or punished for going off the deep end by accident. It was the mutual understanding, never mind the difference in danger, there was going to be no one else there for her besides her fellow mutant. And of course, her own flesh and blood.

"Harder!"

Another piece of furniture was broken against Darwin's incredible body armor, looked as if it was made of scales or something alike. Maybe even stronger. Alex took another swing against his back with what was left of a chair to only have it break apart, like the dozens of other pieces on the floor.

"Come on, harder!" he shouted, trying to get a rise out of someone.

Eveline took her one chance to swing a chair against his chest, but it broke. Again. "That's amazing, how the hell did you advance like this?"

"Adapt to survive."

"Adapt my ass, this is some next level bullshit!" Sean groaned, throwing an empty Cola bottle at him.

Angel had to fly and dodge the oncoming pieces, dancing to the song flowing out of the maxed volume radio, Raven bopping alongside her on the couch. Hank, as silly as he was, hanging off the ceiling fan and grooving alongside the girls.

This is what freedom was, and damn was it beautiful.

"What are you doing!"

Moira McTagger, the eye-candied CIA agent who helped with the recruitment wasn't exactly enjoying what had just occurred. Both inside and out.

Everyone froze at the sudden rage displayed for their more than ignorant behavior, "What the hell is this!? Who destroyed the quad!"

"Eveline did." Hank quickly blamed, getting her to scoff right at him and fling a glass cup at him.

"No," Raven interrupted, smiling so wide her face started hurting, "The Witcher. We have to call her Witcher, that's her name now."

Eveline then stood beside her with as just as much excitement gushing out of her, "We were thinking you should be Professor X," pointing to Charles first then over to Erik, "And you should be Magneto."

But the reaction wasn't what she nor the others were expecting.

Erik gave off the aura of being a straight up statue of a man, hardened with no emotion. It was something she could relate to very well but...maybe the fun and games would open him up.

Just a little, "Exceptional."

He walked off before anything else could be said, leaving both girls in shambles inside and slowly growing out.

"I expect more from you." Charles accused with such disappointment it made Eveline rear back, even if the comment wasn't directed at her.

Eveline couldn't displace that amount of disappointment; she'd never experienced it since the one time she had let Augustine down. It might've been reworded and a lot harsher then, but to have it come half circle made her stomach knot up painfully. When you've been the epitome of near perfection, a learning experience or something to look up to, the display of dismay wasn't common.

Not long after the outburst, everyone began cleaning everything up. Eveline pieced the windows back together, forced the fire to burn out while simultaneously driving the spikes back into the ground. Raven and Angel picked up pieces of the broken chairs as well as the glass, Alex and Hank rearranged the furniture, finally Darwin and Sean tried to make the place look untouched.

Eveline curled up on the couch beside Raven, Angel sitting across from them while Sean was lying in his seat again, "Does he always get that angry."

"No...he's never been that mad before. I don't understand what his problem is...we're just having fun." murmured Raven.

"It's his way of keeping us in line." Angel spat, "You're not unfamiliar with orders and being told what to do, Eve."

The young woman twirled her dark hair around her finger, unable to cease the anxiety she was feeling after that, "..this is mundane compared to what I suffered in there but regardless of that I was loved."

"Stockholm isn't love."

"That might be the way you see it, but I don't see it as a victim falling for their captor." she hissed, "I see it as a man seeing me for more than what they made me out to be, even if he's the first or the last."

The sound of mocking laughter coming from just outside the window, fellow CIA agents taking time out of their day to add to the frustration. While ignoring them was easy, causing them pain seemed a lot simpler.

"Oh look! The circus is in town!" one agent crowed, being glared upon in disgust.

Eveline focused her energy onto the both of them, but she was stopped, Raven's hand gently squeezing her shoulder, "It's not worth it."

The second suit fixated his attention on Angel, devilishly grinning at her, "C'mon honey why don't you show us!" He cackled, waving his arms to poorly mimic her ability to fly. She didn't reply, but instead rose her middle finger in the air to make them laugh even harder. Hank's obvious displeasure made him become the bigger person and ignore their attempts to push his buttons, pushing one himself to close the curtain behind the glass, "Jerks.." he muttered, making his way back to his seat.

"Don't mind them, they're just being stupid."

Angel snorted, "I can handle stupid, but I'd rather not handle it like this."

"Shame...I wasn't done showing you what I could do." Eveline grumbled as a pout formed on her face.

"We can't harm them, if you thought Charles was mad now–"

A loud thud cut Raven off, alerting the rest when the sound didn't stop at one. Whatever was making that awful noise soon followed in numbers, crashing into things outside, on the roof tops. It took Hank that much longer to draw the curtains back since his fear of finding out what that noise might've been.

"Why did it stop." asked Sean, piling up near the window to search for whatever it is they were looking for.

It was a body that dropped from the sky, directly in front of the window. The screams bounced from person to person as they slowly backed away from the window, unable to keep their eyes of the man that suddenly appeared in the middle of the court yard.

"What the hell is that.." Eveline asked, feeling something more than fear for the first time.

"Get back!" The security assigned to keep them safe gathered, but their attention was facing the wrong mutant, "Stay in there!"

The girls couldn't help but scream, "Behind you!" jumping so far back when the sounds of bullets riddled in the air towards...nothing.

Once again, the teleporter reappeared and slaughtered each one of them as if they withstood a chance. Eveline was gripped to by Raven's shaking hands, screaming as bodies continued to drop, one after the other. But that wasn't their only problem, "There's...there's more coming."

"We gotta leave! NOW!" Darwin shouted, being the temporary leader to safety as they all barreled out the exit to be welcomed by more gunfire.

Sean and Eveline ended up tripping over each other, trying to get back into the common room where everyone with a semi-automatic claimed to be "safe". Alex did his absolute best to barricade the door behind them while huddling in a corner seemed to be their safest bet...until the cyclone unexplainably appeared out of the corner of their eyes.

_'i have to do something.'_ she communicated to the others, getting the look of shock and most importantly, their complete disapproval.

"You're gonna get yourself killed!" shouted Alex, both out of the kindness of his heart as well as her safety "You can't control yourself, just like the rest of us! It's suicide!"

"It's worth giving up my destructive life so you all have a chance!" she barked over the unholy noise coming from outside.

Eveline scaled the broken window, meeting the teleporter head on. She wasn't quick enough to hear the sound of a metal cutting through the air. There was no way she could protect herself, them, and focus at the same time, her only form of defense was to block the sharpened blade slicing into her forearms before he vanished.

"Eve above you!"

A loud whoosh caught her attention just above her before the extended blade piercing her shoulder, making her scream in agony. She felt to the ground, luckily on her back to stare right up and freeze him mid-flight, his weapon drawn back as if he was going in for the final kill. His teleportation function was delayed, it couldn't work under her control and it never felt so good to be in it.

It didn't register that she was still bleeding, unable to feel it slithering down her arm and into the palm of her hand before it dripped onto the grass. She was concentrating so hard on the teleporter, she wasn't aware just how close the second mutant had gotten before she was whipped away, being flung into a concrete wall.

"Eveline!" Raven cried, "Don't hurt her!"

If it was the slightest possible to feel every bone break in her body at the same time, she probably did but the adrenaline was keeping her from feeling much. She could taste the copper tang in her mouth, throwing up a mouthful in attempt to crawl back to the others.

"Cyclone, we don't hurt our own kind." demanded the third finding his way through the doors, giving him a certain look that suddenly turned him generous. He helped her back to the others, hearing her whimpering and holding back the tears from the amount of pain surging through her body.

Eveline was then passed into the arms of Raven, behind held so closely in fear she would be taken away again.

"Good evening, I'm Sebastian Shaw." he introduced, "I am not here to hurt you."

"Is that so." Eveline coughed out.

"I apologize for the actions of my comrade, when one of us is threatened by humans our...instinct is to fight back." he explained thoroughly, reaching his hands above to take his helmet off, "Since the telepath isn't here, I don't need this silly thing."

Sebastian Shaw passed the helmet off to the red one, then trying to smile as if it would make him less dangerous, "My friends, there is a revolution coming. When mankind discovers who we are, what we can do, each of us will face a choice. Be enslaved or rise up to rule."

"So you can stay and for the people who hate and fear you or you can join me and live like kings." he finished, eyeing Angel from his distance, "And queens."

Her regeneration abilities had slowly began mending what bones had been broken, causing more pain then the breaks. Raven couldn't hold her body for much longer, struggling to keep her from collapsing but since the open and bleeding wound wasn't her concern, her vision started to go hazy.

There was a deafening silence at first, but their minds were running absolutely wild with not knowing what to do, "Why-why us."

"We're all brothers and sisters of the atom, there is nothing that can tear that bond apart, but the choice is simple: if you do not join us, by definition you are against us."

"That isn't fair!" Eveline managed to scream, having to be held back by Alex, Sean and Darwin in case she decided to pounce, "Humans aren't the problem! It's their ignorance and their righteousness that keeps them from second guessing their role in life!"

"They die off, we do not." she growled, trying to show strength beyond the pain, "Without them, we would not be here and without us...they would have nothing to fear."

Sebastian then stepped closer, tilting her chin up to recognize the fire burning in her eyes. That was something he needed, "You seem to be familiar with the hatred–what human tamed you."

"No one tames me."

She set her sights, rendering him still and unable to fight back. _'just like we practiced.' _Augustine's voice of hope found way into her head, giving her enough to focus as hard and focus it as individually as she could.

It wasn't long till the shrieking had reached her targets, sending the two to floor while this so-called avenger was stuck dealing with it, no release valve or possibility of fighting back.

"No one dares tell me what is and isn't right." she hissed, feeling the full stretch of her abilities become her blinder. The specks of black and red surged through the visible veins, pulsing and lighting up as whatever fluid overcame her veins leaked into her eyes. Her emeralds as well as the whites of her eyes soon flooded with black.

The unexpected punch to face knocked her off balance, sending her to the floor and lose her control.

"Angel!"

It was the sinister chuckling that made her tremble, "I must say, sister, that is an exquisite amount of power you have. It's too bad you've been...restricted beyond your comprehension."

Angel then offered her hand, "You don't belong here, and that is nothing to be ashamed of."

"I belong here...you don't."

A fluid motion, locking eyes with her long enough to forcefully send Angel through the window before she was thrown out there with her. Eveline hit the ground so hard her head bounced off the concrete, unable to play off that hurt, "EVELINE!"

"You're a fighter, I can appreciate that."

"It's what...I was _trained _to be." she said in a whisper, placing her palms flat against the ground.

Skewers began rising from the ground at an alarming rate, unaware her target was missed several times but what she didn't realize was the disks flinging through the air and colliding with the spikes. Eveline wasn't quick enough. She didn't see Darwin on the aggressive line, shielding off Angel from Alex's power...but there was no good, ending result.

He had absorbed it, making her as well as everyone else so deeply petrified.

"Protecting your fellow mutants?" Sebastian smiled, beyond amused, "A noble act."

No one had seen Darwin was mere inches away, being taken by the throat as a small red orb manifested into his fingers, "Adapt to this." He whispered sinisterly before sending the energy down his throat, while everyone watched their now late comrade suffer greatly from the inside out.

"You bastard!" Eveline cried, giving it one more go and fight one last time. She tried her hardest to bring up another skewer, but it didn't work out like she wanted.

Shaw took ahold of her throat, mistakenly getting to close, "Maybe I was wrong about you."

He then showed no remorse, flinging her back into the concrete wall so much harder, that her body cracked the wall on impact. By now, every bone had probably been splintered as well as jabbing into organs without her at fault. Pride got the best of her and now look where she lied.

"EVELINE STOP!" They screamed out, watching from a distance how broken she was. Mentally, emotionally, physically more than anything.

Something was telling her to continue to her last dying breath while the many voices of reason were begging her to stop.

Eveline lied there, half dead as she watched the few vanish into thin air. Darwin, now a pile of rubble on the floor, unable to look at what bits and pieces were left of him.

The four remaining had forced their way outside, towards the girl who nearly gave up everything for them. "Get her up!"

"Eve! Eve, stay with me!"

"Eveline!" shouted Sean, vigorously shaking her shoulders to get her alert again.

Raven hit his shoulder repeatedly to get him to stop. It wasn't helping and all it probably was doing was rattling her brain a lot harder than it needed to be, "She-she needs help! Go find someone!"

"Who!?"

"Whoever isn't dead, stupid! Just go!" she spat, holding Eveline close to her chest.

It felt like hours before EMT's began arriving. Raven stayed beside her through it all, holding her hand so tightly to feel her squeezing it back, "I didn't...try hard enough..." Raven held her close, gently petting her hair down before gently kissing her forehead, "Shh...you did just fine. Darwin's death isn't your fault, Angel leaving isn't your fault. I just...want you to know you did everything you could."

Eveline couldn't believe that, more like she refused to. "Yeah.."

For the rest of the night she was lying on a gurney, being medically assisted as best as they could but she never was a fan of hospitals. _'after all this time...I guess I wasn't ready after all.'_

* * *

Don't forget to Fav/Follow/Review!

See you next time!


	4. Chapter 4

Hi again! So, so, so sorry this update came late. I've been catching up on this story for a couple of weeks now so I'm not too overwhelmed! Hope you guys understand and thanks so much for the favs and follows so far!

Enjoy chapter four!

* * *

_chapter four – code red_

"It hurts all over."

Raven gently rubbed over her shoulder, leaning in to kiss her temple, "How's the healing coming along?"

She shrugged, "Slowly but surely.."

Alex walked past, stained in her blood and it took her hours to realize. She had been in and out

daze in result of so much blood loss.

"Thank you." She spoke softly to him, but he was so confused by the gesture.

"Why are you thanking me? We should be thanking you, you nearly died trying to avenge Darwin." Alex replied.

Eveline slowly shook her head, reaching an affectionate hand out to hold his jacket-sleeve, "I couldn't have done it without all of you. Having someone to fight for makes being what I am..._so _much more worth it."

Charles and Eric suddenly popped up into their purview, looking over the children with such fright and horror, at them and the scene around them. Alex was up and moving towards them half way but stopped at the last second to look back over his shoulder at everyone. All emotionally spent and exhausted.

"I arranged for all you to be sent home immediately." Charles ordered.

"No." Sean rejected.

Charles gave him a stern look to defend his answer. "Alex is not going back to jail." Sean said.

"You can't send me back to them," Eveline piped up, trying to fight the tears building in her eyes, "They'll kill me for being a failed test subject."

Raven spoke with a tremor in her voice, "Charles, Darwin is dead and...we can't even bury him."

"Eveline protected us while you were out in Russia hunting this Sebastian Shaw character." Alex spat, "He was _here _throwing Eve around like a damn ragdoll, breaking and testing every nerve and bone in her body. _She _fought for us while you two were chasing shadows."

The young woman struggled to stand, being assisted by Hank and Raven at her sides, taking hesitant steps towards them to try and buy some sympathy, "I can only feel what pain he has caused you, Erik. When I first touched your mind...I couldn't fathom what I saw and for that I am deeply sorry but if he is what you want us to go against, it's going to take a lot more than your blind hatred for him and Charles's need to send us away because of this."

"We're not afraid. We're unprepared and throwing us away won't help anyone."

Eveline took a deep breath, trying to ignore the sudden rush of pain surging through her body before being sat down again, "I've never seen power like his before. If he can so effortlessly throw me around, break me over and over...then my training the last four years has amounted to nothing."

"That is all the more reason you all should go home."

"So Alex and I just rot in a cell for the rest of our lives, even if I'm that lucky?" she merely whispered, "I may have a human who cares for me, but there is nothing in his power he can do to save me from being exterminated."

Erik registered her pleas, as well as everyone else's, taking them into consideration, "We can avenge him, as well as everyone else who died in result."

Now, Charles was realizing that he was right. There couldn't be anything they wanted more than to fight, to avenge, "We will have to train. All of us. Yes?"

Eveline smiled so...graciously at the both of them for this chance.

"Well we can't stay here, even if they reopen the department it's not safe. We got nowhere to go."

Charles smiled lightly, nodding his head, "Yes we do."

Eveline tilted her head to the side to crack what wasn't broken, sighing in relief to feel her neck loosen up. Charles and Erik still had their sights on Eveline, seeing what hell she had brought to protect them all, at most. What they hadn't realized was she alone could lose her control, and everyone would pay the price for it.

:::

Piling out of the car, sort of leaving some rubbed in blood stains against the fabric of the seating. Eveline had a weak smile looking up towards..this castle of a home. It was a Victorian mansion; the building was made of tan stone. All the walls were capped with stone rail work, ending in points at corners. The windows were tall, and though they were narrow there were so many they seemed broad. The grounds would have fit at least a dozen more of the mansions.

"Is this yours?" Sean asked in surprised.

"No. It's _ours_." Charles replied with a warm smile on his lips.

Eveline looked about the land, the home, unable to process just how lucky Charles was. Perhaps still _is_, "You grew up here?"

"I don't know how he handled such hardships," Erik snorted.

Raven couldn't help but chuckle, "Hardships that were softened by me."

"You were here...the whole time."

It was the unbearable sorrow in her voice that made Raven regret ever saying a word. She couldn't face her after that comment, but she could only hope for the chance of a proper explanation...for abandonment.

Raven simply cleared her throat, trying to change the subject, "Let's start the tour."

"Before we get to that–" Alex interrupted, holding Eveline up as best as he could to keep her from face planting, "Does anyone know how to stitch?"

Seeing both men had completely forgotten about her injuries, Charles and Erik's concern spiked, they couldn't have her bleeding all through the halls. Not at this time, at least, "Right, Raven would you mind?"

Once everyone had made it inside, they went their separate ways; Raven heading towards the West wing while Eveline had been led towards the East. More unoccupied bedrooms could be used for fixing her up for the mean while. She didn't speak a word to them as they walked with her, they did offer to lift some of the weight off of her, but she refused. Eveline was walking–well more like staggering–behind them but she made it before collapsing on the bed.

"I want to thank you for all that you had done for them," Charles spoke kindly, feeling her eyes boring into his own.

"Why thank me?" she asked, sitting herself up, "Isn't that what mutants are supposed to do, protect each other at all costs?"

Erik simply nod, "I suppose that's right...we already have the world against us, along with other mutants out to kill us for our cause."

"Did the medical assistance help any?"

She shook her head, "No...I didn't want them near me. I can hardly withstand the pricks of needles and I had already begun healing."

Charles reached a hand out to take ahold of her wrists, pulling them up to see the gashes still open and bleeding, "The medical kit should be in the bathroom, Erik."

"A please would suffice."

"Go, now." he demanded again.

Erik did as told with as much resistance as possible, leaving the two alone to let him examine any other open wounds, "How come these aren't healing."

"My healing factor works one wound at a time. It isn't the best but...it does what it can, stitching it up helps."

"Erik will do his best, needle work isn't my expertise." he said apologetically but it got her to smile.

Eveline reached down to pull her t-shirt from the hem, then over her head to give better access, "I haven't been in this much pain since..."

"Since I left the corp." she whispered, "I nearly died in a gun exercise, four handguns pointed at my head. They all fired at the same time and before I knew it I took one to the back of the head and I stopped three before I hit the ground."

"My doctor...he was–he was so scared of losing me, and I never thought I had that effect on anyone before."

"Are you sure it wasn't a tactic to get you to become more...dependent." Erik intruded, bringing the box of medical supplies back to the bed.

His instigation made her stomach turn, "No, he wouldn't do that. He isn't that shallow of a person, nor would he undermine my trust in him for the sake of his job. He is one the few humans who cares...looks to us like we are exquisite creatures that can't help but pique his interest."

"You say that like he is the only one in the world."

She snorted, "Are you jealous."

Erik then glared deep into her eyes, seeing absolutely no reaction emotion, "On the contrary, I'm annoyed."

"Erik.."

"Looking to a human so highly who, I might add, imprisoned you and used you for the benefit of becoming a weapon of war." he stated rather aggressively, taking Charles's place beside her to begin threading the hooked needle, "I don't see the point, nor do I see a reason to be so...jealous."

"Then I have no reason to continue this bottomless conversation for the simple explanation: you do not understand."

While he might have been right, Erik didn't care. He wasn't going to let the silly love-sick emotions of a mutant, trapped and kept under control, to ruin his initial goal. They were here to help _his _cause, not the other way around.

"I'll leave you to it and I'll see to it Raven brings you something to wear."

"Thank you.." Eveline merely whispered, trying to focus on the footsteps departing while Erik had refused to warn her of the entrance of the needle.

She gripped the mattress, nails cutting into the bedding once the needle started to move at a steady pace, "Strange to think I can be...flung, stabbed and break nearly every bone in my body but I'm deathly afraid of needles."

"I can understand that." replied Erik, watching her eyes move from the doorway to the inked set of numbers in his forearm.

"That's how you met Shaw.."

He didn't answer, he suspected she was going to catch on further, so it was best to let her find her way, "How did you not kill him for what he had done to you, when you had the pristine opportunity to do so."

Erik exhaled, "I was a boy, I hadn't known the full extent of my powers yet. I was taught to use anger as a source but then, I used my one chance and never found it again until now."

"Fueled by rage." Eveline murmured, taking ahold of her hair to rest it on her opposite shoulder, "As children, Raven went from house to house robbing people blind. She took nearly the entire night to round up enough food for the both of us for a few days before having to go back out there again...when she didn't return I assumed she was caught or killed. Or both."

Then, she looked around the massive bedroom to point out the luxurious attributes, before whispering, "To find out she was living here all these years, it makes me question whether or not I meant anything to her at this point."

"She was the only one who ever truly cared for me and she just...found solitude in Charles instead."

"Maybe it was a wakeup call, letting you know it was time for you to fend for yourself." Erik said, but it wasn't the reaction he expected.

Eveline looked to him with tears in her eyes as everything in the room began to tremble and rise, "If that was the case, an explanation would've sufficed, not leaving me to find out what I could and couldn't do by myself. I killed our mother because I couldn't control what was going on, tore our home in two and watched the neighbors violently hemorrhage right before my eyes."

Suddenly, everything had fallen and either broke or hit the ground in result, "It was always about Raven and will always _be _about Raven. She's as selfish and spoiled as they come, acting like her gift is an issue where I...I would kill to be anybody but me."

"I can't control what I am. I can't...use my abilities simultaneously against another set of powerful mutants–against one that can absorb energy, no less."

Erik then ceased the threading of the stitch, gazing into her tear-filled eyes to assure, "That is why we are here, to find out the extent and use it. No more shock collars and commands, no punishments and rewards, no deadlines and bids. You have the control, and you use it against those who have made your life miserable from the very beginning."

"That may be your reasoning, but I'm not the type of resolve my past with violence no one can withstand." she murmured.

Eveline uncomfortably rolled her shoulder, being extra careful not to loosen the stitches, to look down to her trembling hands, "The regeneration isn't mine," she whispered, "The snake nest as we called it...they made it possible to extract the DNA of failed subjects and integrate their powers into our genetic makeup. Dear friends were autopsied, had what made them special extracted and-and put into someone else."

This was something that came straight from a nightmare. He was curious what kind of people these were, most importantly how they had advanced in creating the "perfect" mutant through harvesting their powers, "I want them to suffer for it...but I'm not strong enough."

"In due time." answered Erik.

"Eve, I hope you're still my size. I found something as comfortable as possible, made sure it doesn't bug your wounds." Raven's voice carried into the bedroom, but her sister avoided her presence at all cost. And she knew it too.

Eveline simply nodded her thanks before focusing on the various broken artifacts on the floor before hearing the exit, her boots clicking soundly against the hardwood floors, "That was cruel."

"Don't you dare tell me what is and what isn't cruel." she sneered, "I was left alone, she lived in this palace. I hurt people to survive and she bathed in luxury. She had a privilege and I had to salvage. Abandonment is cruel, being angry isn't."

"You seem to have a point."

Erik finished up the last of the stitches, pressing a gauze piece to her shoulder and taping it off to her skin, "Next."

Her arms were now placed in front of her chest, top of her arms facing him while he threaded two needles simultaneously. This one didn't take as long but it hurt just the same, "Why do you so desperately need us to fight your battle."

"Just as you said before, he is too strong. For all of us." he remarked, knotting the last stitch before dressing the wound, "Maybe not for you mind-readers but for us who can't penetrate that muscle, we must resort to our only options."

Eveline let her shoulders slump, pressing her elbows into the tops of her knees as she watched him clean up the mess of blood, "When we find Shaw, what are supposed to do."

"Kill him."

"Splendid." she murmured, taking the clothes Raven left on the foot of the bed to make her way into the bathroom to find herself staring into the mirror. A good, long look and there was nothing that made her stomach turn more than her appearance: sickly pale skin, the scars her weak regeneration left behind, the burn of the shock collar, how from day one she was the healthiest she could have ever been. Now she couldn't recognize herself after the years of "special diets" and food depravity for not following orders.

It was vicious and unnecessary but there was no choice.

Eveline didn't know Erik was there watching, rather he was admiring what she despised with every fiber of her being. He looked her up and down, taking note of every scar that laced her body in a variety of sizes and occurrences. She was burned, cut both surgically and unprofessionally, marked by restraints, and finally the collar that took her ability to live freely. Even now, a forever reminder.

Then, the mirror cracked on her mindless command before she shut the door and locked it, something she didn't think she could ever do.

Privacy came with a catch.

:::

"She hates me, Charles."

"Are you really in a position to blame her?" he asked carefully, going through the myriad of empty bedrooms to clear out and open up the spaces needed, "You abandoned her at seven and left her to figure the world out by herself, during the process of her mutation awakening, no less."

Raven fixed the years' worth of untouched comforters, organizing everything to perfection in the process, "I was going back for her."

"Exactly how many years did you want to wait before doing so?"

_it isn't my fault. _Raven forced herself to believe that, reciting that meaningless lie over and over until she felt content with herself, "She has been tortured beyond your recognition, yet you expect her to fall back into a place she hasn't been in for the last sixteen years."

A whopping three years Raven had on Eveline but based on a consensus and pure life experience, Eveline was either older beyond her age or had the mind of a child. Simply to broken and to abused to make the difference. "...I don't even know when she started going through her changes. I was young when mine arrived but hers...maybe in the time I was gone and spent here it must've started or...or happened after I left–"

"It happened when I was twelve." the sudden voice flowed into the bedroom, sounding as ominous and empty as well as familiar, "I was scared. I didn't know why the ground started shaking when I was about to cry, why everything was suddenly floating in mid-air, why when mom came into my bedroom with a bad hangover started yelling about them mess – before I knew it there was a spike through her chest because she angered me. I screamed so loud in reaction but that only made it worse, skewer after skewer started darting from the ground and through the roof. Mr. and Mrs. Lynn came by after the panic and with a look, a single look they were on the ground. Blood seeped from every orifice and I didn't know how to make it stop."

"So by definition, it _is _your fault."

Eveline appeared from the shadows, constricted by the long-sleeved dress with a turtleneck and boots Raven offered. Her near black hair flowed to her waist and her hands linked neatly in front of her, casting this unamused look upon them as she slowly descended into the bedroom, "Perhaps those two innocent people wouldn't have suffered such a gruesome death and well...we both know mother's time was well overdue."

"Of course, I can't blame you forever but if there was a chance that I could've stopped them...if you were considerate enough to think of the only living family that cared for you...maybe I wouldn't have been locked away. My memories would still be intact. We would still be together." she rounded off, looking boredly over the amount of object cluttered in this one bedroom alone, "The butterfly effect is quite fascinating, isn't it."

"Eve I.."

She put her hand up to stop her, straightening herself up to show off the pride she never knew she had, "After we're done with this mission, I want absolutely nothing to do with you. My ability may not be anything close to an oracle, but I can already see where your path is heading ...stupid girl."

Eveline then dismissed herself back out, back to her bedroom to sit in window sill and stare out into the countryside. Not once had she ever remembered being so bold it was borderline rude or disrespectful, but maybe it was Raven's turn for the wake up call.

"That was unnecessary."

"Maybe so," replied Eveline, "It's about time Raven recognizes real tough love and not the simple disappointment you so easily place above her. I know you care for her Charles, deeply in fact, but that shouldn't excuse her from anything she has ever done."

When she faced him, Charles could feel her deep inside his mind, nitpicking what memories to read and others to piece into the picture perfect story of the day he and Raven first met, "It's not like me to want nothing to do with my sister...but to envision her so happy without me makes me forget about the girl I once would have died for."

Then, her presence slowly slipped out and he was free to breathe, "Look inside my memories, find the missing pieces because no matter how hard I try I cannot see anything. I cannot find _anything, _and I don't know what is real or made up anymore."

Charles tucked his hand away into his trousers, pulling an empty chair to sit beside her and press his fingers to his temple. She willingly let him in. Though, he couldn't explain why digging through her past put an immensely painful strain on his mind.

He must've been pillaging through years' worth of forgotten memories; some were of Eveline and Raven as little girls–both filthy and starving. A passed out drunk mother and an even more careless father. The echoes of fights coming from another room about the girls, what to do with them long before their mutations had ever made themselves known. The liquored-up shouting, cowering children hidden beneath the bed, bottles being thrown around the next room. This was just the beginning.

"Your childhood.."

"It was a doozy, wasn't it." she chuckled humorlessly, wiping away the tears, "I don't remember anything after Raven left. When I woke up in the snake nest.. I get no fragments, no flashbacks, no triggers, nothing."

Eveline leaned so close to the glass she had to press her forehead to the cold, feeling it soothe her overactive mind just a touch, "It's like...they wanted me to forget who I was."

"If that was their goal, they succeeded." he informed her dreadfully, "Past Raven's...voluntary disappearance I can't find anything of your life after."

She squeezed her eyes so tightly the tears still managed to slip out, rolling so hot down her cheeks she couldn't help but wince at the imaginary pain. Eveline then closed off her mind, hearing Charles wince and groan in pain at the sudden cut off, "I don't know what to do, Charles. I'm...I'm missing a chunk of my life and all I could ever ask for was that back.."

"You said something about the walls in the snake nest," he went on, catching her tear-filled eyes almost glimmering with hope, "Did they do more than keep you from connecting with telepaths."

"I–maybe I...I can't think of anything as to why but every time I tried to...remember, at least long distant memories I could never remember."

Eveline pawed at her eyes again, "Not only have they robbed me of my freedom and my sanity, but they also chose to screw with whatever life I had left in me."

"With training, there's a chance you can repair what you had lost."

She looked to him with hope now, with that same child-like fear still overpowering her even at her strongest point, "Do you...do you really think so?"

"Anything is possible if you put your mind to it." he said with a growing smile, reaching a hand out to dry her tears with the back of his knuckles, "I sensed something, even in the blankest part of your mind there was remnants of something there."

Eveline wasn't afraid of putting her trust in him, it would be silly not to. It's the least she could do to progressively give her thanks in a much bigger capacity. To her, everything came with a price and now she was going to pay them back. Whatever it cost them; she will gladly repay it for their tenacity.

But of course, Charles' wandering psyche and Eveline's splintered mind happened to let her plan very noticeable, "You can repay us with your determination to control your mutation. To help our cause."

"By _our_ do you mean yours," she stated, "Or Erik's."

* * *

Bit of a short update, this is just a filler I promise they'll get longer and more frequent!

Don't forget to fav/follow/review!

See you next time!


End file.
